NRL Round 13 – Match 5 Preview: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans

June 4, 2010

The first match on Sunday afternoon has the recently defeated Titans travelling down to chilly Canberra to take on the Raiders at Canberra Stadium.

The Gold Coast has slipped down to number four on the NRL ladder after two successive losses. The Titans have suffered two big defeats going down 28 – 6 to the Broncos in Round 10 and then losing 30 – 16 to the Roosters last week. If they are to maintain their spot in the top four then they really need to regain some form and win here.

Last time these two met back in Round three the Titans smashed Canberra by 20 points, but with the home ground advantage and a couple of recently impressive performances, the Raiders look well positioned to win here and move tantalising close to a spot in the finals.

This will be an interesting one as the Titans will be a little low on confidence after suffering a rare loss at Skilled Park and we all know how good Canberra can play at home, despite having had only one home game victory this year. With boom fullback Josh Dugan in-form and working well with veterans like skipper Terry Campese, the Raiders are starting to bring some danger with them.

Although Canberra are currently the clear $1.62 favourites with Ladbrokes.com.au, while playing away from home after back-to-back defeats the Gold Coast are the underdogs, at $2.35 the Titans represent good value as they are a classy top four team sure to be keen to prove themselves are being surprised by the Chooks last week. They also have David Shillington and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs back from Origin duties which will aid them in their cause.

We still like the Raiders though, the big boys in green refreshed and ready to give the home crowd something to cheer for.